This is exactly one of the big reasons I oppose gay marriage or civil unions because when a gay person gains the right to enter into a legal union then a Christian business loses the right to disagree and is in turn discriminated against. And that’s exactly what is going on here:

CBN NEWS – A Christian photography studio is guilty of discrimination because it refused to take pictures of a gay commitment ceremony, according to a New Mexico’s Court of Appeals ruling.

That decision against Elane Photography upholds a lower court ruling that said the photo studio is considered a public accommodation, similar to a restaurant or store.

The case dates back to 2008 when New Mexico Human Rights Commission ruled the studio violated the state’s Human Rights Act and discriminated against Vanessa Willock because of her sexual orientation.

Elane Photography Studio argued that the decision is simply a reflection of the owners’ religious and moral beliefs.

“Christians in the marketplace should not be penalized for abiding by their beliefs anymore than anyone else should,” Alliance Defense Fund Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence said in a statement after the original ruling by the commission.

“The government cannot make people choose between their faith and their livelihood,” he said. “Could the government force a vegetarian videographer to create a commercial for the new butcher shop in town? American business owners do not surrender their constitutional rights at the marketplace gate.”

The Alliance Defense Fund, which is representing the studio, plans to appeal the latest court ruling.

This is what happens with we elevate a person’s sexual preference to that of someone’s skin color or gender. All of a sudden it’s discrimination to refuse a client based on their sexual preferences. And it’s those kind of discrimination laws that set the groundwork for an attack on Christianity which wholly rejects homosexuality as Godly behavior.

Being a Christian and a former photographer myself, this really hits home with me. Many have said to me ‘just say you aren’t available on that day‘ instead of turning down a client directly based on my true feelings. But why should I have to lie? Why should I have to dodge the truth simply to avoid a lawsuit? After all, this is America, where freedom of religion is established in our Constitution. I should be able to say without fear of being discriminated against that I only photograph traditional weddings and I should not be forced by law to photograph gay ceremonies.

But sadly this ‘discrimination’ argument will always persist as long as we uphold sexual preference to the level of skin color or gender. Therefore we must call the gay lifestyle exactly what it is, and that is nothing more than having a sexual preference.

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